French Press Review 17 January 2018

President Macron's visit to the migrant hotspot port city of Calais. How to balance 'the duty of humanity" and "respect for Republican order."

What to remember from Emmanuel Macron's visit to Calais? asks le Monde

"A year and a half after the dismantling of the so called "jungle" (an encampment housing 7,400 illegal migrants) and despite criticism of the asylum-immigration bill, the President went to the city that is a symbol of the migration crisis," the paper reminds us.

The essential, le Monde believes is that France will not permit a new "jungle" in Calais.

The paper quotes Macron as saying "Calais will not be the back door to England."

Speaking to the police, le Monde tells readers, Macron renewed his support, told them to be "exemplary" vis-à-vis migrants by not using violence or confiscating their personal belongings.

Le Monde reminds us that some 600 migrants seeking to reach England are still living in Calais, that's according the NGO the Migrants' Hostel.

Or, there are 350, according to local officials.

Either way, migrants are still dying while trying to cross the border. Three of them lost their lives in December and January.

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Le Monde publishes an open letter to the President signed by intellectuals and trade unionists severely critical of his government's migration policy.

"Mr. Macron, your policy contradicts the humanism you advocate! " they claim.

"The French, for whom the protection of the persecuted is the historical vocation of our country . . . greeted your promise of a France where no one would sleep "in the street, in the woods" and where one would not seek to deter anyone from exercising their right to protection," they say.

"Unfortunately," the bleeding hearts lament, "we woke up in a country where . . . Eritreans, Sudanese or Syrians, humiliated in their country, tortured in Libya, exploited by criminal smugglers, terrorised in the Mediterranean . . . may soon be deprived of their liberty in France."

It is a very long letter, and we don't have unlimited time to quote from it. The concluding sentences will suffice:

"If we really want to protect the persecuted because they are entitled to it, wherever they are, we must share this mission with those European countries which recognise themselves in these values.

"While waiting for such a framework to be put in place, we must strive to "live up to our ideals", to use your own words. Any other way would be another brick in the wall of moral indifference that grows everywhere on our continent."

Though to imagine one could successful tug at the heart strings of a former investment banker seems a little fanciful.

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Left-leaning Libération reports the story under the headline "Migrants in Calais. Macron : Everything is under control."

The sub-text is that his administration intends to be tough on them if necessary.

"We will not allow a reconstituted " jungle ", an illegal occupation of the territory, " Macron said. He wants to bring order: with faster processing of asylum applications and "more effective border controls".

He sums up his thought in three sentences, says Libé "Greet everyone; check immediately the administrative situation; protect some; detain others. "

The emphasis in Libé version of Macron's speaking to the police is a little different from le Monde's.

The paper says Macron responded indirectly to the humanitarian associations which have criticised police behaviour in Calais, such as the use of tear gas and the confiscation of sleeping bags.

"'I will not let anyone caricature your work," said the head of state. "He even said he was ready to sue for defamation those who accused them without proof."

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The Catholic daily la Croix's gives over its front page to Macron's visit to Calais saying he outlined a policy combing  'the duty of humanity" and "respect for Republican order."

Inside, the paper acknowledges that finding a balance between the two is difficult.

On the plus side, la Croix believes, is Macron commitment to policies aimed at the integration of migrants who are granted residence in France.

The real headache, of course, is how to deal with migrants who are not.